


Verge of Victory

by Merfilly



Series: Rise Up, Rebels [20]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-30
Updated: 2016-04-30
Packaged: 2018-06-05 09:59:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6700360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All the players in place, all the stakes raised. Who will walk away?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Verge of Victory

Obi-Wan did not think as he pushed with Force against the chunk of duracrete coming down straight toward Anakin. They'd gotten this far, with their forces holding their own in space against the Imperial Destroyers. On the surface, his own forces, backed up by clone troopers and a few hand-picked Rebels were closing in on the Emperor.

Only, there were Inquisitors aiding the man, making it harder for Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, and Anakin to get close. Darth Maul was off to one side, too close to Padmé for Obi-Wan's presence of mind, but Yoda was on that side of the Temple's opening as well. He couldn't hear the Emperor, but he feared what was being poured into Anakin's ears as he was closer.

One man should not be so powerful in the Force! Not even a Sith! 

A spike of anger in Ahsoka forced him to look that way… Force take it, she'd unmasked the Inquisitor she was fighting to reveal an all too-familiar face.

"You must center!" he roared at the young woman, not envying her in the least for having to fight a very Sith-twisted Barriss Offee. Sith spit, but had the Emperor taken every Force using prisoner and made them into monsters?!

Ahsoka's only answer to his yell was to somersault over her opponent, taking the fight higher on the stairs. Then Obi-Wan had to contend with the two Inquisitors he was facing far too directly to be able to safeguard his allies. He pushed himself further into battle meditation, focused on his fight, but keeping awareness of each of the others and their fights. They needed to get Yoda all the way to the Emperor, with at least one other fighter.

He didn't expect Ahsoka to be the one to finally break her fight first, a clean heart thrust ending the fight. He felt the darker emotions swelling in the young woman, could tell she was hanging by a thread on the side of the Light, to kill the woman that had first been a friend and then her ultimate betrayer.

"Snips!"

Hearing Anakin yell that name gave him hope twice over. It meant Anakin wasn't sliding back under the Emperor's influence, and it meant he was protecting his former padawan. 

Only, no… Ahsoka was surging up the stairs, moving toward the Emperor, and no one was where they could support her! Was that why Anakin had yelled? Obi-wan hastily struck down the man he was facing, and pushed, with all his might, at the woman, so he could get up the stairs to help the youngest of their force.

Oddly enough, he saw Darth Maul tear free of his own fight, and move to clear the distance as well. Was this some odd Sith vengeance need, refusing to let a former Jedi be the one to join the fight first?

Padmé provided blaster cover at the guards, winning the unlikely pair the last few stairs unimpeded, before Obi-Wan saw the lightning strike out at the youngest fighter, throwing Ahsoka back down with a shriek from her. She laid still where she landed, and Obi-Wan felt as Anakin's control broke.

Both fighters in front of him fell to their knees, scrabbling to remove an invisible hand from their throats, before that gray-suited cloud of Darkness was in motion. Padmé fired two shots, ending their lives, before she had to duck back, out of sight, before the Emperor could get a solid view of her.

Obi-Wan made it to Ahsoka's side, dropping on a knee to check her pulse. Her eyes flashed open at the touch, both her fallen lightsabers flying back to her hands, even as she hissed in pain. 

"Stay down—"

"Kark that; Skyguy needs me," she snapped, forcing herself up, shaking her head to clear it before she was on her feet and sprinting.

The clatter of armor and blaster fire joined the mix as new stormtroopers poured out of a troop transport, severely upsetting the numbers. Obi-Wan saw as Darth Maul diverted his attention from the Emperor battling Anakin to speak into his comm, and felt every nerve twitch.

And then the Temple itself opened doors around the steps and a force of Nightsisters and Nightbrothers poured out, having been cloaked by the Temple's rolling waves of dark Force energies. At their head, Asajj Ventress led the battle to the troopers, an entirely too gleeful smile on her face. Obi-Wan could have sworn she had said she would not be joining them when he'd convinced Maul to come along.

Should he help against the troopers, or join the fight above? He looked that way and saw Anakin taking the bulk of the fight, aided by Maul on one side… and now Ahsoka, her twin sabers dancing low compared to the higher swings of the two men. Padmé was turning her attention to the fight below, getting away from the danger up high, and Master Yoda had managed to end his fight against the trio of twisted Force users in front of him. The ancient master was focused on the Sith; that meant Obi-Wan could go and help Rex's men and … the Dathomiri contingent.

"I was certain you declined my offer," Obi-Wan said as he got to where he could guard Ventress's back. "Something about commitments?" 

"Kenobi, my darling, I declined your offer. That doesn't mean that Maul didn't sweeten the deal for me after you left… before we'd even had tea. Such poor manners on your part."

They had to let the banter fall as the battle worsened, with trembles from the ground, but eventually they had made a dent in the other side, and Obi-Wan looked at the Nightsister. 

"How did you open the Temple?"

"Secrets, darling. Sith secrets. But so kind of you to choose ground we could work from," she purred at him before stabbing under his arm to kill a stormtrooper, even as he repaid the favor with an overhand slash past her back at one.

"If you or Maul betray — "

His words were lost as the Temple _heaved_ , ominous rumbles deep within it joining the sound of duracrete and metal groaning in distress. Obi-Wan turned his attention upward… to see Anakin and Maul with their lightsabers piercing the Emperor from back and front, Ahsoka on her knees on a step down from them, and Yoda nowhere in sight. He reached inside the Force to find Yoda felt so close, so different… and realized the esteemed Master had become one with the Force during the battle.

What few troops were on their feet for the Empire were staggering, losing their will to fight, and that left them at the mercy of the Dathomiri and Clone/Rebel alliance.

"Surrender!" Padmé called out, before more bloodshed could happen. "Imperial Forces, surrender for fair treatment!"

"Oh she takes the fun out of it all," Asajj crooned, before calling out orders to her people. She then turned and ran up the stairs, prompting Obi-Wan to follow, not knowing what was afoot. 

Maul was bleeding heavily, panting for breath, and Anakin's life suit was damaged in ways that had him swaying. Ahsoka struggled to stand, before Anakin moved down one step so he could put his hand between her montrals, and Obi-Wan saw them sharing the Force to steady one another.

"Do help your younglings while I take my kin away, darling." Asajj was quick to get to Maul, under his uninjured side to help support him, hissing at him for daring to growl at her.

"Of course, my dear," Obi-Wan said, even as he felt like he wanted to laugh or scream at the ridiculousness of it all. Both of those two were murderers; how could he be thinking of letting them escape.

"Don't," Anakin said, or maybe it was in the bond. "The Temple wants more violence. Don't give in, Obi-Wan. I know what he's taken from you, what she's done. But we can't." He staggered a little as the Temple shook beneath his feet, and Obi-Wan was immediately throwing his control of the Force around the pair that mattered to him.

"Listen to your mad dog," Maul said. "Maybe later, Kenobi, you and I will meet. But not this day." He started to limp away with Asajj, ignoring the Jedi. Asajj, however, let her eyes linger on Ahsoka's face, and Obi-Wan thought he saw the younger woman nod before the pair did leave. What was between them?

"How did you ignore it? I felt your control snap," Obi-Wan asked, trying to help both Anakin and Ahsoka down.

"That's why. This place… it is of the Sith. It doesn't want the Sith it already touches; it wants to pull you Jedi down."

Obi-Wan looked at Ahsoka, half afraid her eyes would show the yellow when she turned to face him, but clear azure eyes met his gaze.

"Skyguy protected me," she said softly.

"You wrapped around me first, Snips, let me see what it was doing," Anakin said, his eyes already going to where Padmé was taking charge on the ground. His wife was uninjured, calmly resolute in her armor, and he felt a fierce pride in her, in his student, in his teacher that buoyed him up against the damage of the suit.

At the ground, Padmé gave them curt nods, continuing to order the men around, which included providing gurneys to the two injured fighters, leaving Obi-Wan nothing to do but make contact with the Fleet. Maybe, just maybe, they were on the verge of taking the galaxy back from the Dark Side.

**Author's Note:**

> Probably only a coda after this, so let me say thank you, and offer up comments as a place to ask any questions you might have about the directions taken in this wild ride!
> 
> The support has been wonderful to help me get through this series!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Reunion](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12388791) by [Merfilly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly)




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